2018 Mariano J. Lacort Rioja Reserva

80% Tempranillo, 15% Red Garnacha and 5% Mazuelo from vineyards in the 3 sub-areas in Rioja with different soil types: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental, northward-facing in the foothills of the Sierra de la Demanda. Fully destemmed, lightly pressed, and fermented with native yeasts. The wine is aged in medium-roasted white American (Ohio) and French oak barrels for 18 months, with decanting every 6 months to facilitate the natural filtering process. 13.5% alcohol.

Pours a deep dark purple color and shows off aromas of dark plum, red berries, fresh earth and some classic Rioja oak notes of coconut, vanilla, dill and aromatic wood. Medium bodied on the palate, with more intense purple fruit flavors and spicy oak on the palate. Bone dry, with fairly high tannins and acidity. Give it some air to show its best now or open it over the next 5+ years. Very good quality to price ratio.

 Bodegas Lacort was founded at the beginning of the 20th century. Located in the famous Estacion de Haro District, their neighbours include other historical wineries, such as La Rioja Alta, Cvne and Lopez de Heredia. With the phylloxera plague, many French winery owners and vine growers came to La Rioja to buy wine. Some of them stayed to work in the region and there were even some who built their own wineries after falling in love with the climate, the vineyards, and the La Rioja men and women. The Lacort family encountered among these French people some of those who would precisely become their partners in La Rioja, and with whom they would found several wineries at the end of the 19th century. One of these wineries was the Bodegas Franco-Españolas, opened in 1890 by the Bordeaux natives, Frederick Anglade Saurat and his representative Alejo Lépine, together with their Spanish partners, who included the Lacort family.